John-Ford Griffin hit two home runs and Sal Fasano one to propel the Chiefs to victory.   Ryan Patterson and David Smith homered as the Fisher Cats won.   Manuel Rodriguez hit a three run home run in the first inning as Auburn won.  Dunedin won without a home run and with little help from Reed Johnson or newest Jay Scott Sauerbeck.  Lansing were the lone losers.  On Canada Day the eight Canadians in the Jays system went 1-8 six of them not playing on their day.

In seven games the Jays affiliates scored fifteen runs, or just over two per game.  Despite that the affiliates went 4-3 in those games thanks to some strong pitching performances.  Does that sound like a major league club you know?  Michael MacDonald, Ricky Romero, Brandon Magee, AJ Wideman, Nate Starner, Wilfreddy Aguirre and Brad Cuthbertson all pitched well.   Justin Jackson had three RBI's.

The affiliates went 4-1 yesterday evening with only Auburn’s one-run loss to Williamsport spoiling the night. There was impressive pitching by Blue Jays farmhands in both Triple-A and the Gulf Coast League, while Lansing had one of its best offensive nights of the year, despite a lack of production from its most feared hitter.

It is time for the pitchers this week. The farm affiliates went 3-4 on the evening.

Eligible players are ones who have signed and played at least one game in the minors, and are not currently on the major league roster. Alphabetically, the players I considered are: Adams, Ahrens, Arencibia, Josh Bell, Butler, Cannon, Diaz, Eiland, Hatch, Liuzza Jeroloman, Majewski, Mathews, Olmedo, Patterson, Santos and Snider. My top ten are:

1. Snider
2. Santos
3. Arencibia
4. Ahrens
5. Mathews
6. Olmedo
7. Jeroloman
8. Eiland
9. Diaz
10. Patterson

After Snider, there is plenty of room for disagreement. What do you think? I'll tabulate the votes and post the results after Canada Day.

...it doesn't matter what his name is, Brett Cecil can pitch. The farm affiliates went 4-2.

A 2-3 night for the affiliates.  Lansing had the best night winning 16-9.

The affiliates go 2-4 in what was an interesting night on the farm. Ricky Romero made his long awaited return to the mound, there was an inside the park homer in New Hampshire, a fan favourite was plunked twice in Triple A action, and so were three Gulf Coast League Blue Jays, all in the same inning. Find out more in today's episode of the Minor League Update.

Syracuse had four hits as Josh Banks took the loss.  Auburn had four hits as Kyle Walter took the loss.  Lansing had five hits as Zach Dials pitched well and Po Keng took the loss.  New Hampshire had seven hits as Kurt Isenberg took the loss.  Dunedin had nine hits as Russ Savickas lost in relief.  A bad day on the farm, it was tough to find the three stars.

Syracuse and New Hampshire were the only winners.  New Hampshire came from behind with three two run home runs while Dunedin and Auburn coughed up the leads.  Chip Cannon had a couple of the home runs for the Fisher Cats while Jesse Litsch and Lee Gronkiewicz pitched well in AAA.  Paul Philips had problems in Dunedin, John Tolisano hit his first home run as a Jay.  Brett Cecil, the Jays third pick, made a successful debut.

Last night was a night of several surprises on the farm. Lansing won due to production from an unexpected spot in the lineup. New Hampshire lost to a surprising degreee. The GCL Blue Jays were strangely already pinch-hitting for the team’s first-round draft choice.

And Victor Zambrano couldn’t complete four innings, gave up a bunch of hits and several walks and turned a lead into a deficit. Oh well, some things never change.

It's the hitters summary this week. The farm affiliates went 6-1 last night to partially offset the sting of the game in Toronto.

The phonetically similar first-rounders Ahrens and Arencibia had similar debuts, and Ricky Romero had a (reasonably successful) rehab start in Dunedin last night. The farm affiliates went 2-5.

Dunedin scores their last two runs on bases loaded walks to defeat Lakeland.

The affiliates were 3-0 on the night, with 2 rainouts and an A Ball All Star Game.

Jesse Litsch gains revenge on the team that gave him a rude welcome back to AA ball from Toronto two weeks ago.  Meantime, a suspended game that was well in hand from last month helped the affiliates come away with a split of their 4 games.